[3.5] Barbaric Cleric

[A.A.King]

I'm trying to build a Barbarian / Cleric, who should be mostly cleric but feel like a barbarian. I've my eyes set on the Strength Domain (Which I'll probably trade in for Strength Devotion) and the Wrath Domain (I sort of like it's Domain Power, it gives me Rhino Rush and it just fits with the Barbarian Part). The Strength Domain/Devotion is not debatable, he does not believe in a God, he believes in the Absoluteness of Strength. My main idea was Barbarian 1 / Cleric X / Prestige Class Y, but I'm struggling to find the right prestige class(es) for this guy. There don't seem to be any nice feats/prestige classes which mix the two so now I'm turning towards more general gish divine prestige classes. My problem is however that neither Bone Knight or Ordained Champion (the standard suggestion) fit with the idea of a Barbaric Cleric. I don't want to just be Barbarian 1 / Cleric 19 so does anyone know a good prestige class for a Divine (Barbarian) Gish?

Important Note: I'm not planning on using DMM (Persist Spell) on Divine Might so BAB is important.

[Telonius]

Are you completely wedded to divine casting? The concept might work better as a Barbarian/Bard/Rage Mage. (Other option: ask your DM to modify the requirements to be "2nd level Spellcasting" instead of "2nd level Arcane casting.")

[A.A.King]

Yeah, I'm pretty sold on the Divine bit. I don't mind not being able to cast while Raging though. Being able to cast is while raging would be a pro, but not being able to cast is not a problem.

[GreenETC]

Champion of Gwynharwyf is much more Paladin/Barbarian, with a very meager spell list and the ability to cast in a rage. Runescarred Berserker is much better, but slightly harder to work with. Both have full BaB and get Divine spells, and are above average.

You don't actually need to be a Barbarian to meet this concept, but I don't see why you can't just be a Barbarian 1/Cleric 19 with Extra Rage and stacking buff spells. You can also be a Druidic Avenger, if you don't mind becoming strong animals, as it gives you Druid Divine spells, Fast Movement, and Rage, all on a 3/4th BaB chassis with good saves and skills.

[Ravens_cry]

Picking the right equipment, domains, and spells, a straight cleric could be a suitably barbaric. Even without DMM: Persist, the right spells can make you a potent beat stick, just not all the time.
You just need to cast them during the fight.

[Waker]

Have you looked at the Warpriest from Complete Divine? I know a lot of people dislike it because of the caster levels lost, but it is a full BAB class, grants a bonus domain and gives you options to use your Turn/Rebuke Undead for something other than DMM. It also grants a few SLA's including Mass Cure/Heal, Haste and Heroes Feast.

[A.A.King]

I know I don't have to take a level of Barbarian for this, but I want to. It's essential to the character. Not going to write it all out but The principle of the character is that he was a Barbarian who believed in nothing but the absoluteness of strength and at some point his strong believe saved him from death by granting him divine powers. Only problem is that magic is not real strength, it's powerful, it saved his life but it's not the kind of strength he believes in. However he can also not totally abandon this "gift" because it's very powerful and not utilizing anything he can is also against certain beliefs.

So I need a build that has melee powers beyond the right buffs. Basicically I want a prestige class which has atleast more then half casting and full BAB which has a decent fit with the idea of a Barbaric Cleric

EDIT: I have looked into Warpriest, and it's definetly an option. Though even for this idea I'm not a big fan of 5 caster levels lost on top of the 1 I'm already denying myself. Plus it's more of a leader-type of class then a lone warrior-type of class. But, it's on the reserve list

[Maginomicon]

The Rage Cleric variant in Dragon Magazine #333 page 86 seems like a perfect fit for what you're looking for. It's a variant cleric that opts to gain the rage progression of a barbarian and other barbaric traits by sacrificing their turn undead and domain abilities.

http://gyazo.com/012e1840d6267d8106e46a6bbc533ae2.png

[A.A.King]

That's definetly something to think about. Feel like they could have added something to allow Rage Casting to a Rage Cleric but oh well. Thanks for the suggestion